Studying the Effectiveness of Teacher Education

Abstract

Studying the effectiveness of teacher education Report Principals and new teachers in Victoria and Queensland are invited to participate in a longitudinal study designed to investigate teacher preparation and induction. The project, known as Studying the Effectiveness of Teacher Education (SETE), is focusing on how well new teachers feel prepared for the variety of school settings in which they are employed, and also analyses graduate employment destinations, pathways into the profession and teacher attrition and retention. The SETE project is the first of its kind in Australia in terms of breadth and scope, involving up to 15,000 early career teachers and 1,600 principals. Its results will inform policies and practices for effective pre-service teacher education and induction into the profession. SETE emerged from, and is supported by, a strong partnership between Deakin University, the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD), the Queensland Department of Education and Training (QDET), the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT), the Queensland College of Teachers (QCT) and Griffith University. It has received funding from the Australian Research Council.

Early career teachers’ intentions to leave the profession: The complex relationships among preservice education, early career support, and job satisfaction

“…This study has further investigated which aspects of PSE are related to intention to leave the profession, finding that the strongest relationship was from a perception of high quality training in "working effectively with other teachers", which led to a 30-104% increase in the odds of intending to remain in the profession (up to twice as likely to stay in the profession). This fits with the findings of Mayer et al( 2017), who concluded from their investigation that, within teacher education programs, "[i]nsufficient attention seems to be being given to the role of relationships in learning teaching and doing teaching, including relationships with students and with colleagues and other members of school communities" (p. 128). It also fits with the findings of Skaalvik & Skaalvik (2011) "that belonging and emotional exhaustion are key variables in mediating the impact of school context variables on job satisfaction and motivation to leave the teaching profession" (p. 1036), where a sense of belonging is likely to be enhanced by being able to work with other teachers.…”

“…A recent Australian study used a large scale, mixed methods approach with over 5,000 ECTs to begin to address the question of which elements of PSE have the most impact (Mayer et al, 2017). It found links between the content of teacher education programs and the perceptions of ECTs about their PSE.…”

Micro-teaching 2.0: Technology as the classroom

“…Initial teacher education (ITE) programs within higher education contexts continue to draw interest, debate, review and recommendations from around the globe (Darling-Hammond, 2016;Ell et al, 2019). Teacher selection, teacher quality and classroom preparedness have remained key areas of concern for researchers, policy writers and social commentators (Louden, 2008;Mayer et al, 2015). Much of the scrutiny has centred on the quality of pre-service teachers (PSTs) and their readiness for the workforce (Darling-Hammond, 2016;Schleicher, 2011).…”

Online Initial Teacher Education in Australia: Affordances for Pedagogy, Practice and Outcomes

“…A national report, commissioned by the Australian Department of Education in 2015 to identify best practices in teacher education, presented a somewhat gloomy picture by concluding that "there are programs, such as online programs, where it is difficult to believe that these best practice principles can be met, or how they can meet rigorously imposed accreditation standards" (ACER, 2015, p. 44). Long standing concerns related to the theory:practice divide in teacher education (Darling-Hammond, 2006;Loughran, 2014, Mayer et al, 2017 are potentially magnified further with the prospect of school placements in remote and regional areas, without visits from university lecturers. Seeking solutions to these challenges, Zeichner, Payne and Brayco (2015) call for the creation of "new hybrid spaces in university teacher education where academic, school-based and community based knowledge come together to support teacher learning" (p. 3) and examples of such spaces would be a valuable addition to the research literature.…”

“…There remains, however, a gap in the literature in relation to the national picture in online ITE, particularly in relation to the pedagogical affordances and how practices in this mode of delivery might respond to the call to improve graduate readiness for teaching careers (Australia Department of Education and Training, 2015). As identified by Mayer et al (2017), there is "value to be had from research that is able to simultaneously speak back to policy, teachers and teacher educators with new forms of evidence about the quality of teacher education" (p. 17).…”